# Wikipedia’s first-year contributor community

> An editable encyclopedia drew contributors from existing communities and new languages.

- Owner: Wikipedia volunteers, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Education
- Seed date: 2001-01-15
- Milestone date: By end of 2001
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 10 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Wikipedia began with contributors from Nupedia and a permissive editing model. Founder promotion reached Slashdot, while volunteers expanded to additional languages. Article output grew, although the recovered figures do not count individual contributors.

## Timeline

- 2001-01-15 — Wikipedia organisers (Open web) — Wikipedia opened as a volunteer-written encyclopedia.
- By end of Jan 2001 — Wikipedia contributors (Open web) — Sanger later recalled approximately 600 articles by the end of January.
- 2001-03-05 — Jimmy Wales (Open web) — A Slashdot interview about Nupedia also introduced Wikipedia to readers.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/wikipedia-early-contributor-growth

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Wikipedia’s first-year contributor community.” Case HIS-01114. Spread Score v1.2: 10/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01114